Mother of Twins in Conn. Survives Bullet to Brain

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Despite being shot in the head, police say a young Hartford mother will make a full recovery. Hours after getting hurt, she’s already posting on social media.

“God was truly with me & by my side!!!! Please keep praying for me. I can’t stop cryingggg,” 30-year-old Candace Strickland, of Hartford, posted on Facebook hours after police say she was shot in the head and arm.

The neighbor said she rushed to the scene after hearing Strickland was shot. Both the neighbor and the victim live a few blocks from where the shooting happened.

“I got a call and I ran, went to Adams street and I was crying hysterically,” the neighbor said.

Miraculously, despite having a bullet lodged in her brain, police said Strickland, the mother of three young children including 5-year-old twin boys, is expected to make a full recovery.

"She's just thanking God right now, saying how blessed that she is that she survived that," said Strickland's sister, who asked to remain anonymous for fear of retaliation. "It's a miracle. It surely is a miracle."

Police believe Strickland was caught in the crossfire when gunfire erupted at a home on Adams Street.

One man said his elderly mother lives near the scene of the shooting and heard loud pops.

“Firecrackers or something,” he said. Later, the woman realized they were gunshots.

Detectives from Hartford Police Major Crimes Division processed the scene and towed away a white sedan with a blown out rear window.

“Sometimes you be at the wrong place,” said Dwayne Fuler, of Hartford.

He passed by the scene of the shooting on his way to a local corner store.

Fuler said he lives in the area and often takes his young daughter with him through that part of the neighborhood.

“It happens all the time in the neighborhood. Sometimes it’s scary, but it’s sad it has to happen in your neighborhood,” Fuler said, adding that he wants city leaders to focus on making his community safer.

Strickland remains hospitalized at St. Francis Medical Center.

Hartford police said they're following leads and hope to make an arrest within the next couple days.